Singer Tones and I reflects on her life before finding fame and says she was ‘happy enough’

Australian singer Tones and I has spoken about her life before finding fame, admitting it was ‘the best time of my life’.

In an interview with KIIS FM’s Kyle and Jackie O Show on Thursday, the 26-year-old Dance Monkey hit-maker confessed she was ‘happy enough’ in her old life. 

‘It’s such a hard thing to talk about, because the life that I had before, some of it was the best time of my life,’ she said.

Tones and I (real name Toni Watson) confessed that while she didn’t have a lot money before, she didn’t feel like her life was lacking anything. 

‘You work so hard to get out of that position that you’re in that you don’t like growing up, and create a life for yourself and doing what you love,’ she explained. 

‘[I] never expected this to happen, just wanted to busk forever, and I was happy enough, I didn’t need anything.’

After living out of the back of her van before finding success in her music career, Tones and I said she appreciated now having a place to call home. 

‘All of a sudden, you have the opportunity to get yourself a place or be somewhere where you can be proud of, and you can hang your achievements up on the wall, and you can have your friends over,’ she added proudly.

It’s evidence of just how far the Dance Monkey singer has come, after starting her career busking on the streets of Melbourne and Byron Bay in 2018. 

‘I pretty much bought a van and took two weeks annual leave because I wasn’t 100 percent sure that anything would work,’ she told triple j in February 2019.  

In an interview with the South China Morning Post in November 2019, the ARIA-winning musician admitted she had struggled financially early on. 

‘When I was busking, when I was paying for petrol with silver coins or when I was sneaking into hostels so I could park my van up and sleep in it, I had the best time of my life,’ she said.